Thunderous Maturation: Frontier Reflections
by Unlimited Depths
Summary: After traveling around Hoenn, Ash was faced with the challenge of the Battle Frontier. Once again he is returning home, victorious and considering his journey. With his successes behind him, Ash is faced with a question, on that has been on the back of his mind since the Silver Conference. One-Shot. Sequel to Thunderous Maturation: Ever Grande Progression.


Chapter: Frontier Reflections

The trees in the forests surrounding Viridian City were tall and lush, providing shade to weary travelers. The soft wind rustled through the leaves quietly. Soft white clouds floated overhead, the beautiful weather inviting people and Pokémon to sit and enjoy the day in comfort.

One such traveler was a teenaged boy, almost fifteen years old and already an accomplished Pokémon Trainer. He sat against a tree trunk, the bark rough against his back. He looked out over a small meadow and a rippling pond. He smiled as he watched his family, his Pokémon, play.

Soaring overhead Pidgoet and Swellow darted through tree branches as they played tag. In the pond, Lapras and Corphish floated, floating and enjoying the warmth of the sun and the cool water. Sceptile was sitting in the tree above his trainer with Aipom climbing around the tree, swinging with her tail. Donphan walked around the edge of the clearing, with Eevee following the ground type around. Pikachu sat next to his trainer, ears twitching as he listened to the rest of the team.

Ash Ketchum's smile faded a bit as he faced the truth, there were holes in the scene. Brock was not setting up the table and fire for cooking, nor were his Pokémon helping him prepare. Geodude was not collecting wood and Ludicolo was not helping cut up the vegetables. Max was not pretending to read a book, while really watching how the different Pokémon moved. May was not talking to her Blaziken about a new contest move. Munchlax was not pestering Brock for a snack and the rest of May's Pokémon were not playing with Ash's Pokémon.

They had all headed home, just like Ash was doing. The journey through Kanto was over. He had faced the Battle Frontier and now he faced a choice, one which he needed to make by the time he made it back home. Of course, Pallet Town was practically over the next hill and the decision had yet to be made.

For the first time, Ash wished his friends had not needed to leave as soon as they did. The teen found himself wishing to talk with them about the decision in front of him. Still, the choice would relate directly to him and it was his choice to make.

As he considered his options, Ash's mind drifted back to almost a year ago. A talent scout named Scott encouraged him to test the Battle Frontier and Ash took the challenge.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The first Frontier Brain, Nolan, built the Battle factory outside of Cerulean City. The facility was a factory in a clearing in a valley in a valley near the base of the mountains. Nolan was a fun loving man who enjoyed caring for and training Pokémon with a passion for building flying machines.

When you could fly with Articuno, it made sense to love flying machines.

Befriending a Legendary Pokémon was no easy feat, Ash knew this first hand. While other trainers tried and rarely succeed in capturing a Legendary, becoming such good friends with one was practically unheard of by the group. Max and May, though they had seen a number of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon before, were stunned at Articuno sticking around an area for Nolan. Ash took it in stride and instead focused on the idea of challenging the Legendary Pokémon and winning.

The battle between Ash and Nolan was quite a spectacle. before the challenge stared, Scott arrived to watch the match with Ash's friends. In fact, Misty came with the group after Ash invited her after stoping by the Cerulean Gym to say hello.

Nolan, on Ash's insistence, sent out Articuno, to Misty's exasperation. Ash surprised his friends by sending out Heracross. Brock just shook his head, knowing Ash loved to surprise people.

Max's jaw dropped, as the younger boy knew Ash had Charizard and Pikachu with him. Those two Pokémon were know to be able to fight on the same level as Legendary Pokémon in Max's mind.

Scott knew Ash had talent, but as soon as the choice was made frowned. It was not a bad choice of Pokémon, but it was strange.

May blinked before ignoring the logic of the choice and settled into watching a great fight.

"You sure you want to choose Heracross, Ash?" Nolan asked across the battlefield. "Your Pokémon looks strong, but can he stand up to Articuno's power?"

"Trust me Nolan, Heracross is stronger than you think! I have no doubts. Heracross will win." Ash replied to the light taunt. Sure he could have picked Charizard or Pikachu, but he know the strength of those two and he wanted to test the strength of some of his other Pokémon. Ash was genuinely proud of his Pokémon and knew they were powerful. He almost chose Grovyle, but knew the grass type could easily be defeated by the Ice type and its range.

"If you say so." Nolan shrugged. "Articuno, strike with the power of a Legend. Ice Beam!"

"Anti-air!" Ash called out to Heracross.

The Bug and Fighting type leapt to the side to avoid the powerful ice attack and slammed a fist into the ground. Parts of the earth tilted and exposed rock. Heracross spun around, seemingly grabbing a number of large rocks at the same time, before sending a Rock Tomb attack at Articuno.

The Flying type swooped down, rolling in the air. The twisting Legend followed up its attack wit a Water Pulse as directed by Nolan. Heracross, knowing the danger, continued to move. While the attacks would not be super effective, the sheer power of the move would be painful.

Ash glanced at where his Pokémon had been standing and noticed the gouges in the ground from the powerful water attack. As he was distracted, Heracross tried again with another Rock Tomb. This time the grace of Articuno was not enough and a rock clipped the Pokémon's wing.

Heracross seemed to grin as the Ice type glided to the ground. The Bug type launched himself forward, a Brick Break ready to strike. The punching attack landed fully against Articuno's chest, clearly hurting the Pokémon. Ash winced as the attack was not quite as effective as he had hoped.

And so the two Pokémon continued to fight. When Articuno could, it kept its distance and gracefully flew through the air. Heracross continued to send rocks against his opponent in an attempt to ground the Legendary Bird. Whenever Articuno landed, Heracross attempted to land fighting attacks.

Too soon, Heracross panted as the battle raged on. Articuno was unlike any opponent Heracross had ever faced. Most Pokémon would crumble on a few solid hits, if they were tough it would take as many as six direct hits. Articuno had already taken double that number of attacks and the Pokémon was just starting to look ragged.

Suddenly, a Rock Tomb caught Articuno fully. The Ice and Flying Type fell to the ground. Ash interrupted Heracross' follow up punch. "Hyper Beam!"

Heracross slid to a stop in front of Articuno. The ball of compressed energy appeared in front of Heracross' mouth before lancing out in a yellow cone, completely encompassing his opponent. As the beam of energy faded, Heracross fell to his knees.

Articuno was defeated.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Donphan and Eevee finished their patrol and came to bask in the sun near Ash. The teen shook his head as he chuckled. It was great seeing his Pokémon get along.

Training continued to be a challenge. All through Hoenn, Ash rotated his older Pokémon. The second time through Kanto, the rotation became harder to manage purely because of the additional Pokémon captured and hatched. Absol, Eevee, and Miltank all demanded special attention as they were so young. Adding in Pokémon like Aipom who wanted to be around Ash meant that at times the young Trainer spent more time parenting then training.

Making sure to spend time with all of his Pokémon was not easy. It was a lot of fun though.

Training with Pokémon such as Heracross and the newly evolved Sceptile was different. They wanted to be just that little bit stronger, knowing they were on the cusp of being able to routinely stand with Pikachu and Charizard as the strongest on the team. The promise of being able to fight competitively with Legendary Pokémon made Ash want to dedicate himself entirely on the select group of Pokémon.

Instead, Ash remembered one of his harsher lessons with May. She had focused on Blaziken after her starter evolved from Combusken. She started to ignore her other Pokémon. May as a smart girl, normally needing to be taught a concept only once. However, her tendency to focus on one Pokémon over the others was a harder habit to break. This habit was one Ash worked with May to overcome in several ways, including by Ash continuing his rotation.

The other hard part of the journey was learning everything he could from Brock. The former Gym Leader from Pewter City has impressive amounts of information on Pokémon care and nutrition in his mind. Ash spent a lot of time with the older boy, learning everything from how to identify the best food for a particular Pokémon to how to clean a Rock type.

These lessons were difficult for Ash, though not as challenging as his continued reading. He preferred spending time figuring out battle strategies and helping his Pokémon learn new moves. One of the bigger successes was teaching Sceptile attacks like Dragon Breath and Protect.

Eevee and Aipom were really the only two Pokémon who did not like to train. Aipom preferred playing and would steal her trainer's hat to get him to chase her. Eevee just liked being around Ash. If that meant she had to learn a new move, she learned a new move.

Eevee had not entered an official battle yet.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Saffron City was still one of the biggest metropolises Ash and his friends had ever visited. Goldenrod City in Johto and Lilycove City in Hoenn were huge as well, but Saffron City just seemed massive.

As the travelers approached the city, May and Brock demanded the group go directly to the shopping district. While Celadon City had a more renowned Department Store, Saffron City has a number of wonderful shops and boutiques as well.

Of course, nothing ever goes as smoothly as the group would hope and as soon as they stepped into the outskirts of the city, the resident Physic made an appearance.

Sabrina was no longer as stern looking as she once had been. Now a small, soft smile graced her face. Her slightly relaxed appearance came with a purple tank top instead of a militaristic red coat. "Welcome back to Saffron City, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

"Hello Sabrina. How are you doing?" Ash asked.

"Things are progressing wonderfully. Father is still living with me at the Gym. I am continuing to work on controlling my powers without creating alter egos. Most trainers are still not good enough to give me a challenge." Sabrina responded.

Before any of the group could say anything more, she turned to face Brock and the two kids from Hoenn. "Brock Stone, it has been a while. Forest is doing a good job as the Pewter City Gym leader. You must be very proud. And May and Max, Saffron City is a long way from Hoenn and Petalburg City. I hope you are enjoying your travels."

"It is good to see you as well." Brock said, keeping himself together and not fawning over the pretty Gym Leader as he remembered being shrunk and turned into her doll. It was not an easily forgettable encounter, even if more dangerous and weird things occurred in the intervening time.

Sabrina merely nodded at his greeting.

May waved. "It is nice to meet you too."

Her brother shifted to stand slightly behind her, weirded out that Sabrina knew so much about him.

The Gym leader shifted to subtly face Ash again. "Would you mind stopping by the Gym? Haunter would like to see you again, but the sun makes him a tad uncomfortable."

Ash glanced to his friends and noticed none of them seemed too opposed. He ignored the fact that Brock had tensed up, May was slightly shaking her head, and Max's eyes had grown wide.

"Sure, we can do that."

Smiling, Sabrina turned around, facing away from the group. As she did so, the world seemed to flash and suddenly the entire group was in the Saffron City Gym. Ash blinked before shrugging. "Right, psychic. I almost forgot." He said.

Brock rolled his eyes at Ash's comment while the siblings looked around at their new surroundings in surprise. The group stood in the middle of the Gym's battlefield.

The soft dirt of the ground contrasted with the grey stone pillars creating a high ceiling for the battlefield. There were a couple of torches on the sides of the walls, the flames flickering and giving the room a dungeon-like feel.

Sabrina walked away from Ash and his friends, soon taking her seat on what looked like a throne. Ash remembered the last time he was in this room and the fight for the Marsh Badge. Looking back, he knew he had been luck. Still, it was a great battle and there were several friendships gained from the adventure.

Suddenly four more chairs seemed to pop into existence near Sabrina as her eyes glowed blue.

"Come sit, please. Would you like something to drink?" Sabrina asked.

May and Max exchanged looks before quietly sitting down. They shook their heads, slightly freaked out by the magically appearing furniture.

Ash smiled as he took one of the middle seats, with the siblings to his right. "I am good, thanks Sabrina." Ash said.

Brock sat down in the last chair. "I wouldn't mind a class of water, please."

A glass of water appeared and settled down on the armrest of Brock's chair a moment later.

Through the wall behind Sabrina, a purple circle started to emerge. The shape flew forward until it was floating right in front of Ash. The rounded head of the Pokémon lead to a couple of spikes down the side of the body. Instead of arms, the Pokémon's hands floated away from the legless body. The overly wide mouth and triangular eyes gave the Pokémon a hungry and scary appearance.

Floating directly in front of Ash, the Pokémon stuck its hand into its mouth and pulled out a comedically oversized bomb with a tiny fuse. The bomb exploded, covering both the Pokémon and Ash in soot. "Haun Haun Haun!" The Pokémon laughed.

Ash's grin widened. "It is good to see you again Haunter."

The siblings mouths dropped open at Ash and Brock's calm acceptance of the completely random event which had just taken place.

"Haunter has become a great friend of mine." Sabrina said. "He still pulls his old favorite tricks, but he has developed some new ones as well."

Haunter blushed at the Gym Leader's praise, smiling while scratching the back of this head with one of his hands.

Before Ash could say anything, Sabrina sighed. "Ash, Haunter wants to talk with you, would you mind if I translate?"

Ash smiled. "I would appreciate it."

"Haunter haunt ter haunt haunter." The Ghost Pokémon said.

"Ash, you were kind to me and my family when you met us at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town." Sabrina repeated.

"Haunter ter ter haun haunter." Haunter continued.

"When you asked me to come here, I was willing to do so because of that kindness." The Gym Leader translated.

"Ter, haunt. Haunter haunt haun ter."

"Sabrina is my friend. However, Gengar stopped in a few days ago." She paused and looked at the Ghost type. "You didn't mention that."

Haunter shrugged with his hands. "Haunter haun ter ter haun haunter haun."

"Gengar recently had an Egg and didn't want her child to grow up in the Pokémon Tower." Sabrina continued, not noting if Haunter had replied to her statement.

"Haunter haunt ter haunter ter?" Haunter asked, pulling the Egg out of nowhere.

"Ash, will you raise the Egg of my family?" Sabrina finished her translation.

Ash looked at the Pokémon Egg. It was shades of purple. The top was a dark purple, with a medium purple on the bottom. In the middle was kind of a smoky ring of light purple. Ash took a deep breath and nodded. "Absolutely, I will take care of your family. I promise."

Haunter handed Ash the Egg and smiled his big grin at the trainer. The Pokémon started laughing and floated back out of the room. Pikachu, sitting on the floor next to Ash, shook his head in amusement.

Sabrina arched an eyebrow. "You seem hesitant to take it."

"I want to do well by Haunter. I have never raised a Ghost type nad it makes my a little nervous. I mean, I have heard stories." Ash replied, feeling like complete honesty was important.

Brock nodded as he relaxed into his chair. "I agree, Ash. This will be a big challenge. I mean, what do Ghost Pokémon eat?"

"I am glad." Sabrina said, drawing the groups attention to her. "You are still as caring of a person as you were when you first arrived as a new trainer. I noticed you are becoming more focused. Just remember, it is important to be yourself even at the expense of a marginal gain."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ash looked down at Pikachu, knowing he would see Ghastly soon as the newly hatched Pokémon was at Oak's Ranch. "Do you think Sabrina was right? Have I been too focused on training that I am losing who I am?"

Pikachu looked up at his trainer, but did not say anything, sensing it was a rhetorical question.

Ash bowed his head and closed his eyes, letting the bill of his hat shade his face. "After the Silver Conference, I had to face the idea that I was not doing enough training. Now, I have won a Conference and defeated the Kanto Battle Frontier. Why am I still struggling with the idea of not being enough?"

He paused.

"I want to be the very best. I want to be a Pokémon Master. But I don't want to lose the faith Sabrina, Brock, Scott, and the rest have placed in me. After everything that has happened, why do I feel like my goal is further away than ever?"

Pikachu sat up and patted Ash on his leg. Ash opened his eyes and saw all of his Pokémon, even Lapras, had come to surround him. "Pika pi, pikachu pika pika chu."

Ash nodded slowly as his other Pokémon all seemed to echo Pikachu. They trusted him and loved him. Still, it did not give him the answer he was seeking.

"I appreciate it guys." Ash said with a sad smile at his family. "I just don't know what to do. Scott made that offer, but I don't know if I want to be done traveling."

As he spoke, his mind drifted back to Anabel, the Salon Maiden of the Battle Tower.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Brock, May, and Max talked with Scott at the base of the tower which soared above the forest top. Scott had appeared to watch Ash's battle with Anabel, having made every battle yet.

Ash had let Snorlax take the battlefield first. The large Normal type Pokémon flattened Anabel's Alakazam before squaring off against Metagross. The two behemoths clashed, shaking the entire tower. In the end, both Pokémon were knocked out in an exchange of powerful strikes. Corphish had then almost beaten Anabel's Espeon, before being defeated. In the stands, Ash's Eevee had perked up to watch Espeon battle. Ash's Noctowl came through and took out Espeon to win the battle for Ash.

After gaining his sixth Frontier symbol, Ash had asked for a moment before heading to a nearby lake. He looked out across the water before turning his attention to his badge case of the Battle frontier. This win meant only one slot was left empty. Ash smiled, excited about facing the final challenge.

"You are very close to your Pokémon." A girl's voice said. Ash turned as he recognized Anabel's voice.

"Thanks." Ash replied.

She almost seemed to sigh as she noticed his focus was elsewhere instead of the present conversation. She stepped forward to stand next to the thinking teenager. "You truly love all of your Pokémon and you trust them deeply. It was an honor facing you in battle."

Ash looked at her, unsure of what to say. Anabel continued with a small smile. "I watched you prepare for our battle and the tenderness you showed all of your Pokémon was refreshing. So many trainers see Pokémon only as a means to an end."

"They are my family. I could not treat them any differently." Ash said, sounding a little defensive.

"I know. I could see it in your interactions with Pikachu and your other Pokémon. You did not even get disappointed with Corphish after he lost." Anabel remarked.

"Why would I? We worked on the battle strategy together. He did amazingly." Ash said, blinking in surprise.

Anabel chuckled. "You are quite amazing, Ash Ketchum. Most trainers would see a loss as the fault of the Pokémon. I am glad you don't."

Ash smiled at her support before looking back over the pond.

"Ash, do you mind if I travel with you for a while?" Anabel asked.

He turned to face her. "You want to travel with us?"

"I do. Part of it is that I want to see how you train. More importantly, you are facing Pyramid King Brandon next. He is the strongest of the Frontier Brains and I want to see how you fair against him." Anabel replied.

Ash nodded, grinning a bit. "I would say sure, but I don't want the rest of the group to feel left out of the decision. Why don't we go ask them together?"

"Let's do it then." Anabel agreed.

As the two teens started to walk back towards the Tower, Anabel made one last comment. Ash barely heard it and would question whether or not he really heard it. "Your love for your Pokémon is obvious. Your love for your traveling companions is more hidden."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ash shook his head as he tried to focus. He had not thought of Anabel's fleeting comment since he had defeated Brandon. As he wasn't sure she actually had said anything, he had focused on preparing for the battle against Brandon. Every waking minute had been spent either traveling, learning, or training.

Training with Anabel had been something unexpected and new. Where Brock had the talent to be a Gym Leader, it was not his passion. Misty had the passion and it was Ash who was not ready to train intensely with her. May was inexperienced and needed him to be a mentor.

With Anabel, it was a meeting of peers. She had her own strategy and tactics, her own way of training, and her own ideas about battle. Ash had won her Frontier Symbol, not through a fluke but because of his own merits as a trainer. Both enjoyed training their Pokémon, though Ash loved the thrill of the battle and Anabel preferred the competition. They were similar, with different goals and joys.

Ash looked out over his Pokémon and sighed lightly. Anabel had returned to her Tower after Ash's battle with Brandon. They had only traveled a couple of weeks together, but it was as hard to watch her leave as it was to see his longer term traveling companions walk away. It had been nice to really stretch his talents with someone of a comparable skill level.

Brandon had been something else entirely. Ash had asked for a challenge, mentioning he had not lost to any of the other Frontier Brains. Brandon muttered something about Ash being a cocky brat. Luckily for Ash, he had brought his strongest Pokémon to the Battle Pyramid.

Ash stood up under his tree and twisted to stretch his back. His mind was not on his present surroundings, but instead on the three on three battle with the Pyramid King.

Brandon had started the battle with Dusclops, but on seeing the strength of Ash's Pokémon, Brandon followed up with Regirock and Registeel.

It had been one of the closest battles Ash had bee in since starting to focus on training. Dusclops had used Destiny Bond to ensure a mutual knock out with Sceptile. Regirock and Pikachu and come to a similar end, leaving neither trainer with an advantage heading into the final round. Ash elected to play it safe and sent out Charizard to face Brandon's Registeel.

While Ash considered sending out Lapras, Tauros, or even Quilava, the fact he was down to his last Pokémon with a chance to defeat the Battle Frontier made the decision easy.

Ash walked to the lake and put his bare feet into the calm water. Defeating Brandon had not felt as good as winning the Ever Grande Conference. There was something about the battle, about the situation which just did not fell as good as Ash expected.

He had been overjoyed. Defeating two Legendary Pokémon was amazing and to do so back to back was something he never thought he would accomplish. He knew his Pokémon were great and his faith seemed to be rewarded.

Yet something bugged him.

After beating Brandon, Anabel had spoken to him for a moment. A comment of her continued to rattle around in his brain. "You told me your goal is to become a Pokémon Master. Reaching for such a goal is hard and I can see your dedication to the title. I am confused about something through. What does it mean to you to be a Pokémon Master?"

Now, Ash was returning home after traveling around Kanto for a second time, he remembered an earlier return home. After the Silver Conference, Professor Oak asked Ash what it meant to be a Pokémon Master.

At the time, Ash had gotten distracted by the rest of the conversation. He had chosen to focus on the idea of being a great competitive battler. Reaching towards that peak had taken time and effort, but Ash knew he had to reach the heights of the Regional Champions and, more importantly, he had not really thought about what it meant to be a Pokémon Master.

Ash sighed again as he sat in the clearing, looking up at the fully white clouds in the sky. Of course, there was the offer Scott made and the Teracotta Contest to consider.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Well kid, congratulations." Scott said.

"Thanks Scott." Ash said, a broad grin on his face. The two stood outside the Battle Pyramid. Brock, May, and Max were waiting a few feet away as the group was ready to head towards the Kanto Grand Festival for May's chance at tournament victory.

The older man put a friendly hand on Ash's shoulder. "I have an offer for you."

Ash blinked at the rather curt statement, it was a bit strange for the normally jovial man to speak so bluntly. Scott continued quietly, so as to not be overheard. "I would like you to join the Battle Frontier as a Frontier Brain."

He held up a hand before Ash could respond. "I don't want your answer now and to be honest, I don't know exactly how to bring you on board."

"I don't understand." Ash said.

Scot smiled ruefully at the teenager. "You are making a name for yourself Ash. Not only did you win the Ever Grande Conference, you beat the Orange Crew. You also made it fairly far in the Indigo League and the Silver Conference. Now you beat the Battle Frontier."

The large man paused before continuing. "I recruited some of the best trainers around to be part of the Battle Frontier. We may be a young organization, but we are being favorably recognized. I see great things in your future Ash. I want you to be part of the Battle Frontier's growth."

"I am sorry, Scott." Ash said. "I want to continue traveling. I have so much to learn, so many Pokémon to meet."

"Exactly, look, I may be expanding to other regions and, to be honest, I may want a traveling Frontier Brain. Brandon travels with his Battle Pyramid, but you are more likely to go to an urban center than him." Scott replied. "I am going to think about how best to bring you or someone like you into the Battle Frontier. Please think about it some more and let me know later."

Ash nodded. "Sure, I will consider it."

"Even if you are not ready now, let me know if you change your mind. I will always be interested in a trainer of your caliber."

A few moments later, after saying their goodbyes, the younger generation walked down the path towards their next adventure.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ash stood up and walked over to his pack. He glanced to the sky again, noting it was getting towards late afternoon. With a shake of his head, he pulled Pokéballs out and stated recalling his Pokémon.

Ash left out Pikachu and Eevee to accompany him. "Well, I guess we better start moving. I promised Mom I would get there by dinner. We are fairly close, but I don't want to worry her by being late." Ash told the two Pokémon.

Pikachu nodded with a firm "Pikaa."

Eevee just tilted her head.

The three started walking towards Pallet Town, following the nice dirt road.

It was interesting, all things considered. May's accomplishments during the Kanto Grand Festival did not register very high on Ash's attention. She had done fantastically, reaching the final two. In the finals, May faced off against a Coordinator named Solidad. The older Coordinator had a few extra tips and tricks which allowed her to limit the effectiveness of May's Pokémon.

Ash had been proud of his protégé. She demonstrated an ability to adapt and to learn during the Grand Festival. In fact, Ash was fully willing to say she was a better Coordinator than he was as a trainer at the same point in their careers. Still, Ash was only able to help so much with her training. He tried to teach the best he could, but he essentially had no interest in contests. Ash's style was based around the goal of effectively knocking out the opposing Pokémon. It was not pretty or flashy, both traits were needed in a Contest Battle.

During the Kanto circuit, Ash went into the waiting rooms at various stadiums to talk to May. When other Coordinators found out he was a trainer, they were less then impressed. May never said anything, but Ash got the feeling that the other Coordinators disapproved of their training relationship.

Trainers were brutes after all and Coordinators need grace under pressure. Not all Coordinators felt that way, some even asked questions about how he trained his Pokémon. It was strange to be treated as a pest and an expert at the same time.

May seemed to struggle as the Contest Circuit went on. She excelled on stage. Her appeals were flashy in creating amazing visuals, her battles were equal parts grace and power. It was socially where she struggled. It was harder for her to make new friends in the Contests as she grew into a legitimate threat and as she leaned ever more on Ash's combat training.

Still, after achieving a great finish at the Grand Festival, May asked Ash to compete in the fun, unofficial Terracotta Ribbon Contest with her.

To Brock and Max's surprise, Ash agreed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ash stepped out onto the Terracotta Contest stage, dressed in his normal outfit. He sent out Quilava to make the appeal. Without speaking, Ash just smiled and his Pokémon darted into action.

Quilava started rolling, performing a Flame Wheel. The fires trailed behind the Pokémon. Circling again and again, Quilava stoked the flames inot a towering inferno.

The fire type starte moved secretly into the center, standing next to her trainer. The Pokémon started shooting Wil-o-Whisps into the pyre, creating a painting of fire.

Ash nodded and Quilava started breaking up the pillar of fire with an Extrasensory before leaping through and blowing the sparks away with an Areal Ace. Quilava stood at the edge of the stage, not even panting from exertion. Ash stood confidently in the middle of a charred ring. The Crowd roared their approval.

A few contestants later, May stepped onto the state. She had hatched an Eevee herself during their time in Kanto. She sent Eevee out and the Pokémon immediately dove into the ground to create tunnels.

Popping from one tunnel to the next, Eevee launched Shadow Balls from various parts. the ghostly attacks hovered in mid-air. Eevee landed in the middle of the floating attacks before launching one final shadow ball to cause cascading fireworks in the air. The crowd cheered the light show.

The Judges were impressed, sending May into the battle round against Ash. Being an unofficial contest, there was only one battle round and it was between the two friends.

May quickly sent out her most powerful Pokémon, her starter Blaziken. Ash though was considering some of his rotation Pokémon and wondering about their strength. He decided to use one of these Pokémon, Muk.

Now, Muk is not a fantastic choice for a Contest Battle and was a massive surprise for May. Instead of being paralyzed by her surprise though, she ordered Blaziken to attack.

The Fire and Fighting type starter launched its attacks. Fire Kicks and Sky Uppercuts were directed at the stationary Muk. The large blob shaped Pokémon was not one to dodge.

Ash started losing points quickly as his Pokémon disappeared into the dust as attacks landed. Blaziken returned to stand in front of May, confident Muk was defeated. The power and number of unblocked, un-avoided attacks would be enough to take out most Pokémon.

Instead, Muk sat blinking. There were some scorch marks, the attacks had some impact. But Muk was still ready for battle. Blaziken snorted as he noticed the buzzer announcing the end of the battle had not sounded. Before the Fire type could attack again, a blast of gunk smacked Blaziken in the face.

The Sludge attack staggered Blaziken and Muk surged forward. The heavy weight Pokémon slammed into Blaziken with a powerful Body Slam. Blaziken was a physically strong Pokémon and pushed Muk away. Instead of being disappointed or surprised, Muk responded with a hail of Sludge Bombs.

The timer went off.

Smoke obscured Blaziken, though the crowd could see Muk standing strong.

Ash and May both glanced up at the scoreboard. Ash had lost over half of his points. A look towards May's points showed she had lost just a few more points than Ash.

Ash turned, knowing he had won, and started across the stage. As he walked, he patted Muk on the head and his old friend wrapped him in a big hug for a moment.

After slipping out of Muk's embrace, Ash moved to stand in front of a disappointed May. He stuck out his hand and she sadly took it.

"You did a great job, May." Ash said.

"This is my thing, I wanted to show you how much I have grown under your teaching." She replied, her disappointment in her voice.

"I may be new to Contests, but I know you have improved. You started as a trainer like every other and now you are giving experienced Coordinators fits. You have talent and skill. I am proud of you." Ash said quietly, hoping not to be caught by the sound system.

May lunged forward and hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

May and Max left soon after. May was planning on stopping by home before going to Johto with some of the other Coordinators she knew. Max was heading back to Hoenn to be at home for a while before going on his own Pokémon Journey.

Ash and Brock traveled together a little further before the older boy needed to head back to Pewter City. Brock left saying his traveling days were probably over. He needed to be present with his family and being gone for another long period of time was unlikely to happen for the time being.

Ash smiled, thanking the older boy for all the help in everything, from learning how to cook to being a great friend through all of the dangerous events.

Now, Ash was faced with a couple of startling issues as he approached his home and his Mom.

By many standards, Ash was a Pokémon Master. He had trained a Coordinator into a consistent Contest threat. He had won a Conference tournament. He had taken on Legendary Pokémon and won while defeating the Battle Frontier.

The questions he now faced was what to do next. His friends had scattered, all needing to go their own ways to do what was right for them.

His step hitched as he saw a figure standing in the middle of the path waiting for him. Overhead, a Fearow circled.

As Ash neared, he saw it was Gary Oak. "Hey Gary, how are you?"

"I have been waiting for you for a couple of hours Ashy Boy. What took so long?" Gary demanded.

"I have been thinking." Ash replied, ignoring the frustration in Gary's voice.

"Good thing you started using your brain. But did you have to start now?" Gary asked before immediately continuing. "Let me guess, you don't know what to do next."

Ash nodded, not at all surprised one of his best friends could see right through him.

Gary sighed. "I have been doing some research in Sinnoh. There are a lot of Pokémon I have never seen native to the Region and some challenging trainers to meet. I hear their Champion, Cynthia, is even better than Lance and Steven."

Ash shook his head. "I don't know if I want to challenge the League. I won. What more do I need to prove?'

Gary smirked. "So you are trying to figure out what to do with yourself? I hear you got an offer from Scott."

"I did, he wants me as part of the Battle Frontier." Ash explained.

"Take him up on it, at least for the time being." Gary said. "Then ask to go to Sinnoh and take on the Sinnoh League. Use the time to explore things. Spend time with people, try new things. Trust me, having a path to follow is comforting. Even when you are looking for something more."

Ash frowned before looking Gary in the eyes. "That is what you were doing in Johto?"

"Thats right. I knew I may not be cut out for competitive battling, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I took my time and ran into research projects. I ended up loving field research. Now I wander around studying Pokémon and I have never regretted the change."

Ash smiled at his old friend. "Thanks Gary. I think I will stay home for a couple of days. Sinnoh sounds great, but I want to spend some time with Mom first."

The two Pallet Town natives started walking home, the draw of a new adventure calling them down the path and into the future.


End file.
